Pair found on Little Charity Island

JOSH FAHLSING

Published 8:00 pm, Sunday, July 27, 2003

According to a report from the Huron County Sheriff's Department, Michael Waters, 54, of Brighton, and his nephew John Nuckles, 13, of Milan, left Caseville aboard the PWC around noon Friday to sightsee on Charity Island. Waters' wife called Huron Central Dispatch around 7:30 p.m., saying the pair had failed to return and she was concerned for their safety.

Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the Charity Islands to search for the overdue PWC but failed to locate the missing people. Deputies then contacted the Saginaw River Coast Guard Station which joined the search and contacted Group Detroit to request a helicopter, and the Tawas Coast Guard Station to request an additional search vessel.

The deputies continued to search throughout the night with the aid of the other entities. At 6 a.m. Saturday, Deputy Kelly Hanson joined the search with the Sheriff's Department airplane. At approximately 8 a.m., Hanson located the missing people and their PWC on the east shore of Little Charity Island. Deputies took a patrol boat to the island where they found the the pair and took them aboard the boat and back to Caseville.

Waters and Nuckles told deputies they were in good health and happy to be rescued. Waters indicated the pair felt reassured during the night when they could see the rescue boats and knew the search was on.

Waters also told deputies his PWC became disabled when it took in some stones around 2 p.m. Friday. The pair decided to beach the craft and wait for rescue teams to find them.